PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – One of the most decorated volleyball players in school and conference history, Jana Milin will be inducted Thursday into the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame.  Milin will be just the second volleyball ever inducted into the MEAC Hall.
 
Milin, a native of Pula, Croatia, was inducted in 2016 as the first volleyball player in school history to the Maryland Eastern Shore Hall of Fame.  She played for the Hawks for three seasons from 2002-2004 and still holds numerous school records.  She was instrumental in helping turnaround the Hawk Volleyball Program into the perennial conference contender it is today.
 
Unfortunately for Milin, and those in attendance at the induction, she will not be able to attend the ceremony.  Milin, returned home to her native Croatia after graduate school at Long Island University and due to the COVID-19 outbreak around the globe, especially in Europe, all of her flights to the United States were cancelled.
 
"I'm really sorry I can't be there," said Milin in a video she prepared to be played in her absence.  "This induction means to the world to me.  This is my biggest sport achievement.  After almost 20 years, this induction shows that hard work pays off.  Not in the form of a medal or paper, but over the course of a lifetime, this sport and living in a different culture, it made me who I am today."
 
As a freshman in 2002, Milin was named the MEAC Rookie and Player of the Year.  She helped her team post a 20-15 overall record that year, going 7-3 in league play.  Her 2002 squad was the first Hawk Volleyball team to post a 20 win campaign.
 
Milin had a total of 554 kills, 102 service aces and 330 digs in her inaugural campaign.  Her ability to tally a kill from almost any set, helped Hawk setters of the time set school records themselves.  Milin was also named to the American Volleyball Coach's Association's Thirty-kill club twice and was named to the triple-double club seven times. One of those seven was an amazing quadruple double with 16 kills, 10 aces, 11 digs and 14 assists.  At the time it was the first Division I quadruple double in a year. She finished her 2002 season being ranked fourth in the nation in service aces. She led the conference in kills and aces that season.
 
Milin, who has an unforgettable personality, told the story in her induction video of 5 a.m. practices her first year at Maryland Eastern Shore and how she sang to her teammates each morning.  She even broke out into the self-composed song, 'Good Morning, Good Morning, how are you?  Good Morning, Good Morning, I love you.'  They hated me for that," Milin added.

Those same teammates however loved her leadership.  "We all looked at her as the leader of our team," said her former teammate Marlee (Johnson) Corcoran.  "We played hard for her.  And we knew that she was pushing us to be better every time we played.  She gave her all on the court for our teams, and she expected the same from us.  But after the game, she would be the first one dancing on the bus on the way home, enjoying her teammates and the experience.  Jana was the ultimate team player.  She would let you know if you weren't doing your job, but she would also celebrate you when you did."
 
In her sophomore campaign, absent the 5 a.m. sessions, Milin was honored as Player of the Year once again in the MEAC. The Hawks only lost one match in conference play during that season, posting a record of 9-1. The team finished with 26 wins, which stood as a school record until 2017.  She repeated as the MEAC leader in kills and aces as well.
 
"Jana was hands-down the most competitive player that I have ever coached", said her former coach, Toby Rens, in an interview about her induction to the Maryland Eastern Shore Hall of Fame.  Rens recruited Milin to The Shore.  "That was very entrenched in her.  She was an absolute joy to coach and she made everybody around her better."
 
Milin surpassed her freshman numbers in kills and aces with 644 and 104 respectively in her sophomore season. She once again finished fourth in the nation in service aces.  That year she earned her career high in kills for a match when she got 40 against Hampton.  She had 30 kills in two other matches that season as well, earning AVCA recognition three times.
 
Milin graduated in the 2004-05 academc year, ending her Hawk career in just three seasons.  That year she became the school's and MEAC's all-time leader in kills with 1,794 and the MEAC leader in service aces with 315.  She finished her final campaign as a First-Team All-MEAC selection, marking the third time in a row as a First Team honoree.  She was also All-MEAC Tournament Team selection for the second year in a row.  In her final campaign, Milin led the nation in aces per set (0.94).  Currently, she also holds the fourth, sixth and eighth place in kills per game for a season and the second, third and fourth place in aces per game for a season in the MEAC record books.  Her points per game in a season ranks second all-time in league history.
 
One of the more famous stories of Milin's abilities was a match in Tawes Gymnasium after her freshman year.  "Coach Rens had decided that he would have more of a home court advantage playing in a smaller facility, so that season we played all our home volleyball matches in Tawes," said Associate Athletic Director G. Stan Bradley, who served as the team's Sports Information Director for Milin's seasons.  "We were playing Norfolk State and Jana's jump serve was pretty amazing."  Milin served seven straight aces that match, all targeting the same Spartan player.  "She not only served up seven aces, she literally knocked the girl down, seven straight times.  I've never seen anything like it." 
 
For her career she ranked in the top 30 in kills in the nation each season, was recognized six total times by the AVCA in the 30-kill club and 12 times for the triple-double club.  She was also a 2004 College Sports Information Director's Association (CoSIDA) Academic All-District First Team honoree.
 
Milin is joined in the 2020 Hall of Fame class by four football greats.  Quinn Gray of Florida A&M, Connell Maynor and Christopher McNeil, both from North Carolina A&T State, and Alvin Wyatt, a football and women's basketball coach at Bethune-Cookman.
 
"I would like to congratulate the 2020 Hall of Fame class for all their accomplishments, both athletically and professionally," said MEAC Commissioner Dr. Dennis E. Thomas. "The honorees have made significant contributions to their families, communities, institutions, and this conference. They are to be commended."

The MEAC Hall of Fame highlights former student-athletes, coaches, university and conference administrators, as well as special contributors, who have enriched the legacy of the conference since its inception in 1970. Inductees were selected by an 11-person committee made up of administrators and representatives from member institutions.

The inaugural Hall of Fame class was inducted on May 29, 1981 during a 10-year anniversary banquet in Greensboro, N.C. Since its establishment, the MEAC Hall of Fame has enshrined 153 people, including the Class of 2020.

This is the second year in a row that the Hawks will have someone inducted into the MEAC Hall of Fame. All-American bowler Jessica Worsley was inducted in 2019.  Milin is the 15^th selection from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore to be inducted into the MEAC Hall.
 
"For the future generations of Hawk Volleyball players, I hope they have a bond like my teams had.  They fought for me and helped every minute for exams, setting, hitting, whatever it was.  We have a bond for life," said Milin.  "My team, my coach, my staff, my school, my conference, they made me comfortable, safe and happy.  They gave me a chance to rise and a chance to be better.  I want everyone to have that kind of experience.  To The University of Maryland Eastern Shore and The MEAC, thank you for making me the woman I am today."
 
The inductees will be enshrined during an awards brunch on Thursday, March 12, starting with a welcome gathering at 9 a.m. at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel in Norfolk, Va. The Hall of Fame class will also be recognized before the 6 p.m. men's basketball game during the 2020 MEAC Basketball Tournament on March 12 at the Norfolk Scope Arena.